Entering this fall, Highlands Ranch had won six games in the three previous seasons combined — including a 1-9 record last fall that was marred by controversy.

The Falcons were caught using illegal electronic communications in their Week 8 victory over ThunderRidge a year ago, specifically, a listening device in the helmet of the quarterback, which is against National Federation of State High School Association rules. The fallout was swift and substantial.

The area football community — and most notably district rivals ThunderRidge, Rock Canyon and Mountain Vista — was in an uproar. There was an extensive investigation of the Highlands Ranch program and its use of a quarterback headset. Ultimately head coach Mark Robinson was suspended for the team’s final game and the Falcons self-penalized themselves by forfeiting their three regular season victories.

The entire ordeal — and the widespread labeling of the program and its players as “cheaters” — is not something this year’s Falcons were able to easily forget.

“There’s a chip on all of our shoulders but especially the kids in my class, the seniors, because that was our last time playing those district teams because of the realignment,” said tailback Kobe Eller, who led the Continental League in rushing last season and is first in the Mount Lincoln Conference with 801 yards this fall. “To have to forfeit our wins against a couple of those rivalry teams gets inside you and makes you a little angry, but I think we’ve done a good job of taking our anger and translating it to the field.”

The No. 8 Falcons have made last year’s drama seem like a distant memory. Highlands Ranch is 4-2 heading into its league matchup Friday at Fountain-Fort Carson.

Highland Ranch’s two losses have come to quality opponents — Martin County (Stuart, Fla.) and No. 4 Regis Jesuit — and the team is equipped with a fire that’s to be expected from a group of players who have largely been written off.

“After the decision (to forfeit games) came down, and we started our weight training sessions in November, we were lifting really heavy and I could tell there was a different intensity inside the weight room,” Eller said. “Everyone wanted to be there, working hard and getting better, because we knew that we’re a much better team than our final record showed last year.”

Adding to Highlands Ranch’s drive is the fact the school’s district rivals all declined to schedule them in nonconference play this season, an outgrowth from the tension of the illegal use of a communication device.

Robinson was contrite in his admission that he and his coaching staff should have taken a closer look at how the communications technology they were using fit (and didn’t fit) within the rules. The device was illegal to use inside the numbers on the field, which is where the huddle takes place.

But Robinson also stressed that last season’s bad blood continues to be held against Highlands Ranch, and that his team isn’t losing any sleep over it.

“A lot of adults, including myself, have acted badly — and it’s really too bad, because they’ve tried to let it affect these kids,” Robinson said. “In my personal opinion, district leadership should’ve stepped in and said, ‘We’re all going to play each other’… That never happened.

“We opened the offer to them. A lot’s going to be said as to why (other district schools) aren’t playing Highlands Ranch, but the big reason they’re not playing us is because we’d beat them. I’m just going to shoot you straight — those teams don’t belong on the field with us, and they know it.”

While some might interpret Robinson’s sentiment as arrogance, the simple fact is that the fourth-year head coach truly believes this year’s team has what it takes to block out distractions as the Falcons continue to raise the bar of the program.

“The ultimate goal for this team is to get into the playoffs, and to have success in the playoffs,” Robinson said, “because we’ve got to find success in the playoffs to continue to grow this program.”

Leading the way for the Falcons are Eller, junior quarterback Joseph Alber, junior safety/wideout Ray Robinson and a physical, seasoned offensive line, with sophomore right guard Austin Johnson, sophomore center Drake Nugent, sophomore left guard Jaden Walker, senior left tackle Tyler Fross and senior right tackle Cal Neubert. Those players are determined to get the program’s first winning season since 2011.

“Everyone has a different attitude, and we don’t have a losing mentality or a quitting mentality anymore,” said Robinson, who has scholarship offers from CU, CSU, Air Force and Brown. “We’re hoping we get to see some of those teams like ThunderRidge and Mountain Vista in the playoffs, because regardless of all the events of last fall, we’re looking to make a statement on who we are this year.”

Kyle Newman is the Digital Prep Sports Editor for The Denver Post. Prior to that, he was executive editor of the Colorado Sports Network and The Fan Varsity Sports Network. He is a 2012 graduate of the ASU Cronkite School of Journalism.

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